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Nutritional Requirements of Plasmodium falciparum in Culture. II. Effects of Antimetabolites in a Semi Defined Medium 1
Author(s) -
Geary Timothy G.,
Divo Alan A.,
Jensen James B.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
the journal of protozoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.067
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1550-7408
pISSN - 0022-3921
DOI - 10.1111/j.1550-7408.1985.tb03014.x
Subject(s) - plasmodium falciparum , pantothenic acid , riboflavin , nicotinamide , pyridoxine , quinine , pharmacology , antibiotics , chloroquine , in vitro , antimetabolite , drug , vitamin , pyridoxine hydrochloride , trimethoprim , biotin , chemistry , biology , biochemistry , methotrexate , enzyme , malaria , immunology
A semi‐defined minimal medium, in which pantothenic acid is the only vitamin, was used to culture Plasmodium falciparum for the analysis of antimetabolite drugs. Analogs of riboflavin, nicotinamide, pyridoxine, and thiamin inhibited the growth of this parasite; for each drug, effects were much more pronounced after 96 h of exposure compared to 48 h. The most potent drug examined was 8‐methylamino‐8‐desmethyl riboflavin (IC 50 value approximately 1.0 times 10 ‐10 M at 96 h). Avidin, a protein which complexes and thus inactivates biotin, did not affect parasite viability. Other antimalarial drugs, including chloroquine and quinine derivatives and antibiotics, were equipotent in the minimal medium and in RPMI 1640. Four strains of P. falciparum showed only minor differences in sensitivity to these antimetabolites. The use of prolonged drug exposure times and a vitamin‐depleted medium allowed the preliminary characterization of antimalarial antimetabolites in vitro.